a. Noted economist Lester Thurow argued that the economic demands of the market are destroying the traditional two-parent, nuclear family. Explain his argument.
b. Child development authority Benjamin Spock likewise blamed capitalism for the “destruction of the American family,” but his reasoning differed from Thurow’s: The overriding problem is excessive competition and our glorification of it. It may contribute to our rapid technological advancement, but it has done so at a great price. We are taught to be rugged individualists, and we are obsessed with getting ahead. The family gets lost in this intense struggle. In a healthy society, family should come first, community second, and our outside jobs third. In this country, it is the other way around.